Confectionery
Original title: Confeitaria
Short entry on confectionery-making in Madeira, which grew out of the flourishing sugar industry of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and became a refined craft and valuable export, notably in the Santa Clara convent.
The sugar industry in Madeira, which reached a high level of development and a remarkable degree of perfection in the 15th and 16th centuries, gave rise to the confectionery industry. This seems to have been very important here, both for the quantity and above all for the quality of its products. Dr Rodrigues de Azevedo states that from the 16th century onwards it was raised to a true art and a valuable export industry, as shown by many documents transcribed in ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra) and by various passages mentioned there. In support of this statement, we cite the gift of the Sacred College, made entirely of alfenim (white sugar paste for modelling figures), which the 3rd captain-donatary (capitão-donatário) of Funchal presented to Pope Leo X, as described on p. 208 of this Elucidário. The learned annotator of Frutuoso’s work returns to the subject in the article ‘Madeira’ of the Diccionario Universal Portuguez Illustrado, and we transcribe his words:
... the confectionery industry, created there, chiefly in the Convent of St Clare (Santa Clara), greatly developed in the course of the 16th century and finally made a true art, whose products came to be a valuable branch of exports, as some documents and ‘Longing for the Homeland’ attest’.
In this article
Place
Places mentioned · 03
- Convent of St Clare
Funchal. Convent of Poor Clare nuns described as the main centre of Madeiran confectionery.
A convent in Funchal founded in 1492–97 by the second captain-donatary João Gonçalves da Câmara beside the church of Conceição de Cima. It is the burial place of the Câmara family and holds a 1447 document spelling the name 'Zargo'. It was granted in 1912 for a new hospital and was later chosen to house the archaeological museum.
- Funchal
Captaincy whose third donatary sent the sugar gift to the Pope.
The capital of the archipelago and seat of the principal captaincy, where settlement began; it was made a vila c.1451–52. Its bay, the widest in the archipelago, lies between Ponta do Garajau and Ponta da Cruz and offers sheltered anchorage, though its harbour had never been studied oceanographically. The Elucidário discusses it as a health resort with climate data and records the January 1906 disturbances, the Danish prince's visit in May 1846 and recent volcanic cones in the area.
People
People mentioned · 04- Álvaro Rodrigues de Azevedo1825–1898
Scholarly annotator of Frutuoso's Saudades da Terra, cited here for his view that Madeiran confectionery became a true art and export industry from the sixteenth century.
- Gaspar Frutuoso1522–1591
Author of the chronicle Saudades da Terra, whose documents attest to the Madeiran confectionery trade.
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Pope who received from the captain-donatary of Funchal a sugar-paste model of the Sacred College.
- Simão Gonçalves da Câmara1579–1580
Third captain-donatary of Funchal, who sent Pope Leo X a model of the Sacred College made entirely of alfenim sugar paste.